Angels Don't Lie
by teasetillyoudrop
Summary: Learning the rules and mechanics of space policing and tolerating a less than perfect crew were the only lessons that Kakashi had promised him on that fateful day. So Sasuke had thought that was all in life until Naruto decided to screw it all up.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto nor make money off of this work.

**Summary:**

_ Learning the rules and mechanics of space policing and tolerating a less than perfect crew were the only lessons that Kakashi had promised him on that fateful day. So Sasuke had thought that was all in life but a childish blond and his mysterious past may drag him into the space conflict that no one had ever dreamed would occur._

**Couples:** NaruSasuNaru, more later.

**Comment:** This is my first ever fanfic so I'd appreciate any type of input. Reviews, criticism, corrections, questions, flames, you name it. I'd like to know if people are interested. But please be gentle and enjoy. This is a repost with edits.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_They're all idiots._

Sasuke fumed as he walked towards the ominously drab building that constituted the labor factory of Amano.

He felt like punching or, at the very least, tripping his laid back instructor who, for the past hour, had been staring at him waiting for an apology. He'd rather die than do that so he settled on staring at the looming building, horribly bland in it's off white, yellowish, color. It had shaded windows that didn't reflect the light, but still his eyes burned. The brightness of the building paint reflected the spiteful rays of light, made his annoyance even worse as he trekked along closer to the building.

Unlike his mood, the simulated weather was as clear as can be. The sky was the lightest of blue, _too fake_, the sun as intense as staring at a bare light bulb, _fucking bright_, and, thanks to some spiteful programmer, the air was filled with atmospheric sounds of birds singing their gleeful morning songs, _chirpy_.

All of it made him want to bang his head on the nearest wall.

But, Sasuke reminded himself, dying in such a boring and idiotic way, not to mention in the middle of commoner central, would be shameful.

"You know we have to do this. We're short on man power and, well, androids aren't inexpensive," Kakashi muttered, "he's the third android that you've destroyed for not following your direct orders. This way, if they don't follow your orders, it's not because of programming."

"Hn."

"They're not _inexpensive_ at all..." Kakashi intoned.

"I heard what you said," the dark-haired boy angrily retorted, "It's not like it matters. They're just clunky machines. Besides, I'm paying you," he haughtily finished.

He heard older man sigh, "No… you're not. Your parents' will is. Even with how much they pay me, with the rate you've been breaking _our_ workers you'll be indebt to me in no time."

Sasuke felt a retort on the tip of his tongue but the amused tone in Kakashi's voice stopped him. As he glanced to his right, Sasuke knew that the older man was enjoying this, _the sadist_.

Even while lecturing, he could feel the glee emanating from the idiot. Could see the vague outline of a smile through the black scarf the old man wore around the lower half of his face and a disturbing shine in his lone visible grey eye. He knew that Kakashi liked the lectures he had with Sasuke because, as the grey haired lecher said, it was "bonding time" for teacher and pupil. The perfect time for Sasuke to learn invaluable lessons that he wouldn't figure out without the help of a much more experienced space traveler. Maybe if his teacher was more respectable, more disciplined, _normal_, he would have a longer fuse.

Times like these, Sasuke wondered why his parents thought Kakashi would be a good guardian for him. Sure the man had gone through more missions through space than any other captain available in Konohagakure, but the fact that the man couldn't put his damn smut-filled book-chip away to seriously discipline him irked Sasuke to no end.

Kakashi Hatake's name had been nothing more than a stellar general Sasuke had heard his parents discuss mainly for the battles he won under the Uchiha name. His father spoke of the young general as if he were part of the family, with fondness and pride that Sasuke had never heard directed towards him. His mother had laughed and smiled, as she did with Sasuke whenever he told of his frustrations in the school, at those adventures that his father chose to share with the family.

The day his brother smirked at Kakashi's adventures, Sasuke had yelled at his parents that he hated the man. When his mother had giggled that he was acting childish, he'd locked himself in his room, refusing to leave his room and eat until his kind brother had promised to fast until Sasuke himself ate. After that day, his family no longer discussed Kakashi whenever Sasuke was present. Not long after, his brother slowly became distant and cold, his father stricter and his mother more frantic and paranoid when it came to his safety.

It wasn't until the day of the funeral that Sasuke met the man, dressed in the garish green uniform of the Imperial Military. The general who would be his keeper until he became of age.

Until the day that he could seek revenge with the law on his side.

"You look constipated Sasuke."

Yeah, he probably hated Kakashi for being the son that he could never be, but having lived with the man for five frustratingly long years, the feeling was nothing more than red-hot irritation.

* * *

"Well as of right now we are in, er, a transition between switching last year's returning hires and the new hires so I'm very sorry for the lack of organization." The pudgy blob of fat, named 'Gomi the manager' explained for the third time. "Normally we're very current with the requests captains, such as yourself, send to us but I've also hired new employees, whom are inefficient apparently, within my system. Rest assured that they'll be dealt with for losing your paper works, ergo I will…."

At this point Sasuke's glare had intensified as his day went from bad to worse. The fat incompetent had been blabbering incessantly about the problems their company was dealing with for the past few, measly, minutes that they'd spent within the building.

The huge manager had popped out behind the front desk the moment Sasuke had yelled at the secretary for not having their request filed. He had slowly leaked out of the small backroom door, one fat foot at a time, and, after Kakashi kicked Sasuke's heel twice while informing the man of his name, had refused to shut up ever since despite Sasuke's scathing glare.

"…ese are the latest batch of hires from the edulabor-system," the man joyously proclaimed, "And, as per your request, they are all quite pleasing to the eyes." At this Sasuke redirected his glare at Kakashi, who just winked back as he handed the new request form to the other man.

Both actions went unnoticed by the Blob as he quickly scanned the paper and continued with his explanations. "Your paper says you're inquiring about a good looking mechanic which, I'm sure, is for your son's benefit. I've ordered all the hires to this room. You may ask them _any_ question about their _experiences_ and, once you're done with your selection, just slide your creds on the security device," at this the Blob pointed towards the metallic box collars the hires wore around their neck, "and you'll be good to go. The transaction should be completed in a day or two. Should you be unhappy about your hire, you can return them no later than two months."

"Are there any experienced mechanics who are good looking? I'd like to have workers who already how to handle themselves on a ship, so is there any way to see your return hires?" Kakashi asked, the latter question mirroring Sasuke's thoughts.

"Well," the Blob hesitated, "there is one that has caught the fancy of many of my customers, however he's been returned twice for insubordination." The Blob's eyes looked askance, "I would send him away for general labor but he is fully certified as a technophile. Not to mention his crimes, from the reports I've been given, ranged only from raising his voice against the captains and refusing to perform _certain_ orders so I can't justifiably send him to the general pool. Needless to say, I don't recommend him as a new subordinate and, besides, his credentials rank him as one of my most expensive hires."

"Ah, then we'll take him."

The fat man seemed to consider, but hesitation quickly won out. "But Naruto's reputation…he isn't fit to be your subordinate."

"Then we won't order him to do anything that he'd have a reason to turn away." Now, Sasuke noticed, Kakashi's eyes took on a more intense and serious glint. "If he does act up, I'll take responsibility."

"I still insist you pick _another_. I don't know how disobedient he is, after all the other captains could be lyi-"

Sasuke felt a harsh headache forming. He knew that, with how wordy and stubborn the Blob was, the negotiations would take hours if he left the two idiots alone. He wanted to leave and start learning the space policing trade again.

Or at least get out of the searing simul-sun and dismal surroundings. Increasing the force of his glare, Sasuke declared, "It's our money going into _your_ pocket. Kakashi's chosen, do you or don't you want our business?"

At the mention of money and Kakashi's name, the Blob seemed to forget his problems and snapped back into business mode. "Yes, you're right. It is your choice. Just be certain that-"

"Gomi-ka, your appointed customer is waiting for you." The high pitched, overly chirpy, voice of the brainless secretary boomed over the speaker at the corner of the room. "She'd like to consult you on the new pleasure hires."

Once the intercom quieted, the fat man seemed ready to talk them out of their decision but thought better.

"Ah, well it seems I must get going. Please take caution with your choice. And thank you for choosing our agency for your laborer needs." With those last wastes of air, the bag of garbage lumbered off to the front of the building.

* * *

"How can that retard leave without telling us where this mythic hire returnee is?" Sasuke griped at the chuckling Kakashi beside him. "This room is just as empty as the last room we checked! You should report that manager as incompetent. Actually, report him twice – no – three times. One for each time he delayed our business."

They had started looking at the new hires, asking them how much training they'd received from the engineering branch of the edu-labor system, when both he and Kakashi knew that the hires weren't what they were looking for. Most were new hires, with no experience at all. New to the point that most only passed the first level of technophilia while others only knew technology slightly better than Kakashi. When one had commented that he passed edu-labor because he was bright on paper but had no physical experience with electronics, Sasuke had enough of the suggested hires.

"Calm down Sasuke. You're the one who stormed out of the main hires room," Kakashi chimed. Sasuke saw the joy on the general's face, could feel it wafting off the man in waves. _Asshole_. "We could have asked one of the other hires," the older man grinned.

"I'd rather not talk to those beginners."

Kakashi smiled, "I guess I wouldn't either, with the way they were ogling you." The older man's smirk couldn't get any bigger. "I mean, they were staring at you like you were water in a desert."

Sasuke was about to trip his guardian, _you created that misunderstanding you cretin_, but a loud exclamation, one that Sasuke didn't understand, cut through his irritation. A clattering of metals colliding and a dull thud followed less than a second later. Curious, and hankering for another reason to file a complaint on Gomi the inept, Sasuke headed towards the noise.

There was no real way to find which room the sounds had come from. The walls were all nondescript and clinically plain light grey. Once again, they had to check all the uselessly empty four rooms left in the hallway in order to find the illusive returned hire.

"The whole staff of this god forsaken factory is use-" Sasuke complained until he felt acute pain as the door he had turned and reached to slam open. The last thing he saw, while his vision tilted and swirled as the world seemed to drop away from his feet, was a dark face and the most brilliant, _gorgeous_, blue eyes he'd ever seen on a hume.

* * *

Falling in a blood red sea of color, as shrieks of red-tipped pain and black-stained outrage sounded all around him, Sasuke knew that that he was dreaming. Despite the terror he felt, Sasuke couldn't help but search for those screams once his foot touched the ground.

He didn't know if it was to help his family members escape or to stop the heart wrenching noise. All he knew that as soon as he reached that place, all would be quiet, _gone_, except him and that man. He didn't care that, as an Uchiha, he should be thinking of helping his clan members more than finding the reprieve of the real world once he confronted that man.

Anything to make his heart settle and to stop this nightmare from playing, once again, in his mind.

This time, there were no people in the room. The clan's symbol littered the walls and the ground where people usually were. The clan branded all that they owned with the symbol, a way to distinguish their high class and quality furniture from the other clans, the other nobles. Sasuke had been raised to be proud of it and he was used to turning his head to see three, four or five of them in a room. But this… this was different.

The symbols were haphazardly spread around the room. One curved around the corner of his family's rectangular table flush against the right wall. One spread, irregularly shaped like a splatter, across the wall on his left. One looked crumpled at the farthest right corner of the room. The rest were spread all over in various forms of disarray, a foot or two away from the biggest, perfectly shaped, uchiwa at the center of the room.

The Uchiha's symbolic fan, once pristine white and red, regal in its simplicity, oozed liquid color. Those on the walls slowly dripped color towards the floor, gathering towards the central symbol. The colors were different, _wrong, imperfect, wrong, wrong, wrong_. The normally white bottom was a blood red while the top, usually red, was a dilapidated white. He wanted to erase it. To scrub the stains away and stop the mess it was making.

Sasuke took off his bright white shirt, usually a dark blue, green or black, and used it to wipe at the mess gathering on the biggest fan. At first the color wiped off the emblem cleanly, its former design showing through the parts he'd passed but, as he tried to clean more of it, the liquid turned warmer, more viscous, _wrong_.

He scrubbed harder, face cold, cheeks warm, _take it all away_, until his shirt was the same blood red of the oozing mess.

_Impure_.

He threw the shirt away and tried to scoop the seeping mess with his hands, _too warm_, away. The liquid flowed faster than his hands could move, made his hands and knees slip and, frustrated, he started clawing, _unclean_, at the mess until he felt it. The emblem felt soft, warmer than the liquid and pulsated quietly, squirmed.

_Impure, too warm, wrong, unclean, alive, dying, dying, dying_.

He kept at it. Clawed the symbol, _it has to be cleaned_, until he felt warmth pulling his knees.

At this, Sasuke took of his eyes from the floor and looked around him. The walls looked still, _nothingness_, but he felt it. Felt the undulating movements of something warm, something alive, something wrong, around him. Trying to sink him. At this his mind snapped.

_I have to get away, I can't die, I won't die_.

He tried to stand, run away from the pressure, the disgusting rippling, but the more he struggled, the more he sank.

He clawed and clawed, tore at the moving floor around him, trying to find purchase but he was sinking deeper and deeper, all _red, get away, get away, too red, too warm_.

When only his hands were able to touch the top of the floor, he heard it, his brother's kind voice, the last kind gesture.

"We're special brothers, Sasuke…brothers stick together." _Claw faster, away from everything_. "Mother and Father are proud of you." _Faster_, "I'm proud of you," _away from it all_, "I love you."

* * *

Sasuke's eyes snapped open, view blurry, to meet worried sapphire eyes on a smudgy – _too close_ – face. His heart gave a lurch – _too close_ – and, at the next blink, he found himself standing, his left leg aching as it lowered. He raised his eyes again, shocked, to find those blue eyes hurt and angry all at once. The blond, _blond and blue eyed boy_, looked ready to jump at him and fight but, after staring at Sasuke for a couple of seconds, his anger seemed to deflate.

"Didn't have to kick me asshole," the blond spat as he rubbed his abdomen and winced, "I didn't mean to hit you with the door."

Sasuke stared. Willed the blond to feel how stupid he sounded, "Door?"

"Yeah, dude. You appeared behind the rec room door and banged it good," at this the blond's face lit with a smile towards Sasuke, "I've never seen anyone make the door bounce back with their head."

"Nice to know you're amused."_ Too bright_.

"Yeah, it was hella funny," the blond's face turned serious, "but I think you owe me an apology for that kick. I was just checking up on you, trying to see if you had a concussion and if you were hurt something else since you started crying."

"Cr…crying?" Sasuke stared uncomprehendingly at the blond. His cheeks felt warm, but he refused to touch it. It must have been the dream – _nightmare_ – that he'd had. But, racking his memory of what it was about, he couldn't remember. All he knew was the red, red world and the burning hot dread weighing down his heart.

"Er… nevermind, eye for an eye right? I hit you, you hit me, we're all good." The blond looked away sheepishly, hand rubbing the back of his head. "So… what were you and tall dude doing in the halls?"

_Tall dude_? Sasuke finally looked at his surroundings. They seemed to be in a small room filled with wires, old computers and other electronic memorabilia.

Actually, Sasuke snorted, it couldn't even begin to qualify as a room. The room was a plain bland eggshell white and was only big enough to fit a single metal bunk, which lay flat on the eastern wall. Around three feet of space separated the bed from the western wall, where he'd kicked the blond earlier. The door, thankfully, swung outward. It allowed air in to the room but discouraged cleaning the electronics away from the entrance.

The air smelled like a mix of oil, wet dog and old dust.

"He said he'll get you some ice for your head and some drink to calm you down. I sent him to the vendi in the rec room but I don't know if he could buy anything from that thing." The blond sat down on an obsolete cube-like monitor near the door, looking at everything but him. "You guys may be able to, but we aren't allowed to buy ice packs from the vendi without supervision. One of the guys choked himself with one."

"How do you choke on an ice pack?"

"Managers aren't forced by anything to make sure all of us are sane. They give us the minimum amount of care and we're left to do whatever."

"The guy thought chewing on a chemical filled ice pack is fun?" He sneered at the lack of judgment, "So that's what they teach you in the gen-edu systems. Being idiots?"

The blond looked up at that. "He was a newbie from the system, separated from his batch cause he passed his tests later than them. Cause none of the newbies were his batchmates, he was real quiet and they didn't really try to talk to him." His eyes brimmed with emotions that made Sasuke uncomfortable. "Returnees and newbies separate themselves in the canteen and all that, so I couldn't really talk to him unless he wanted to be beaten by the other hires."

He felt…he regretted mocking the guy. He felt guilty for whatever the other was feeling and he wanted to take away the _disappointment_ the blond directed towards him. Sasuke didn't want to hear anymore, but he kept his mouth shut as a gesture of apology.

The other boy didn't seem to understand what the gesture cost to Sasuke and continued. "I guess he couldn't handle the isolation and one day we found him in the canteen holding an opened ice pack in his hand. When I found him, he was already cold so he'd been there for a long time." Finally the other boy took his melancholic eyes off of Sasuke and looked at his clasped hands, "The manager said that no one could have done anything if he was crazy but I dunno."

An awkward silence filled the air after the blond story and Sasuke didn't know what to do. He couldn't comfort the other even if he wanted. Uchihas were to interact with commoners at a distance and the comforts his mother taught him were anything but. When he thought that the blond might have forgotten he wasn't alone and his legs felt tired from walking all day and standing up so long, Sasuke turned around and sat on the bed.

"Ah, I see you're awake Sasuke," Kakashi interrupted the uncomfortable silence as he stood near the door. He didn't seem to see the blond and walked towards Sasuke, handing him an ice pack, "I thought we needed to cart you off to the hospital for a second there," his guardian gave him a once over, "couldn't get a drink from the vendi but you're calm enough."

"Where are we?" _I want to go home_.

"Hm?" The taller male smiled at him, "I don't really know. We were trying to find our man when you ran into a door." The older man shook his head, "I need to teach you to be more observant, _especially_, when you're frustrated."

"You're my guardian, you're supposed to keep me safe. That's part of your responsibilities." Sasuke frowned and glared at Kakashi while he tried to find a good spot to put the ice pack on his face. He hadn't been feeling the pain until now, as the bridge of his nose and the back of his head throbbed with vengeance for being ignored for so long.

A quiet cough caught both of their attention to the blond who looked agitated and, _thankfully_ no longer pensive. "I'm right here you know. The one who led _both_ of you guys into this room." The soot covered boy raised an eyebrow, "My room, by the way."

"And who are you, blondie?" Kakashi looked the younger boy head to toe. "Not to mention you're pretty suspicious covered with dust. You came from a technology filled room, which was where we heard some very suspicious racket, like you were _breaking and entering_."

While Kakashi spoke, the blond's face went from inquisitive to absolute glee. "Buh…breaking and en…entering," the blond guffawed, "Man, you guys are _stupid_."

"Says the idiot who let two strangers in his quarters," Sasuke snorted as he turned up his nose and looked down at the blond, "very smart to let people you don't know into a room filled with computers."

"Tch! Not like it matters, all those are junk on their own. Broken comps that they want me to fix, scraps from unfixable shit. Unless either of you are technos," he nudged the monitor next to his feet, "you can't use these. Most of the stuff in the rec room is shit too."

"How would you know? Aren't you a dimwitted kleptomaniac?"

"Klepto-wazamasac?" The blond tilted his head, "why don'cha believe I'm a techno? Too sexy, huh? Most people think technos are fat slobs. And see," Sasuke's eyes followed, horrified, as the blond boy ran his own hand, unhurriedly, from chest to lower abdomen, "no fat whatsoever."

"You are a slob," Sasuke willed the blush that tried to rise on his cheeks and gestured to the mess all around them, "and you ruined something in that other room." He didn't need the other's attention at all.

"Hn, a sexy slob… I could live with that," the blond leered at him. Sasuke could feel the ear-splitting grin that Kakashi sported besides him. "Well, since neither of you wants to tell me your names, who are you looking for? You may be here on legit business, but some of the others won't hesitate to call the cops if they see you snooping around without the manager."

"Then the manager is a complete idiot."

"Yup!"

Sasuke stared incredulously at the blond. "You just insulted your employer…" The blue eyed boy gave a mischievous grin. "Do you _want_ to get fired?"

"How the hell would I get fired," the boy directed a confused frown at him, "s'not like I work here."

"Then you _are_ a thief," Sasuke sniffed, "Kakashi grab him. Maybe we'll get money for turning this buffoon in."

The blond stared even harder and slowly, creepily in Sasuke's opinion, his face split with a shit eating grin, "You guys are stupid! My god! Why else would I be here, a lame ass labor factory, in a freaking small room?"

"…"

"I'm a hire, duh. I wouldn't stay in this dump if I wasn't." The blond walked towards a computer with burnt out wires. Knelt and rubbed his face, tears at the corners of his eyes, against its shell, "these nighmares make technos cry. I wouldn't live in a room like this if I had a choice."

_Idiot_. "Breaking company equipment," Sasuke smirked, "taking off your collar without permission. If you have time to-"

"Thank you for your help. We are looking for Naruto." Kakashi interrupted with a monotone as he gave Sasuke a look, "Sasuke's just on one of his _mood swings_. He doesn't bite."

"Huh. Doesn't really matter to me, kinda expected it from a little rich _kid_." The blond uncrossed his arms and transferred his mesmerizing eyes to Kakashi as he walked towards the man, offering his hand. "Name's Naruto Uzumaki, the best techno you'll ever meet in your life."

* * *

A/N: I've been searching for some Sci-fi fanfics with robots, gene splicing and stuff like that and, since I have yet to find any except for Asuka Kureru's awesome Crossed Wires (check it out), I decided to write one. Hope to see you guys next time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kakashi's eyes shone when he shook hands with the other boy. That alone should have alarmed Sasuke. Should have indicated that the blond was nothing but trouble or, at least, an extension of Kakashi's type of hell.

"Glad to finally find you Naruto," Kakashi happily exclaimed as he withdrew his hand from the blond, "I was getting a bit worried for the manager."

"Why?" Naruto responded, looking puzzled towards Kakashi then Sasuke and, when the brunet blankly stared back, turned back to the general. "S'not like you could do anything to him and _**if**_you did do something, you'd be dealing with all that government mumbo jumbo till you up and died."

"Not if I just took off a pound or two," Sasuke offhandedly commented, "or a nut, maybe that would motivate him to be more _efficient_."

Those electric blue eyes turned towards him once again and, even if the blond didn't mean it, Sasuke felt the other measure him up again. "Mahhhhhh? He's not that bad." The blond gave him a chesire's grin, "Fun to pull pranks on, sure, but not maim. He's just…"

"Pathetic, annoying, dim-witted, gigantic, repetitive. Take your pick."

"Just human," the other seemed disappointed of him again. "Human. You know, make mistakes here and there." The blond looked away from him again and turned towards Kakashi, dismissing Sasuke all together. "Usually he is more organized but the new hires came earlier than usual and your rank probably made him very nervous."

A tense silence slowly formed while Sasuke glared at the blond and thought of a punishment.

_How…how dare he ignore an Uchiha_.

"It's okay. I should have paid more attention to the edu-system calendar if I didn't want to catch him unaware," Kakashi nodded, still smiling, "Either way, before you make Sasuke sulk somewhere, where's your security collar?"

"Security collar…" Naruto tilted his head to the side, "Oh! The census collar they give hires?" He asked as he walked past Sasuke, nudged some electronics out of the way, and knelt beside the bed. "I took mine off since it's kinda uncomfortable, 'specially when you're sleeping or taking a bath."

"Why do you call it a census collar? As I understand it, the collar's meant to punish hires that run away."

"Yeah they use it that way, buuuuuuuuuuuut," the blond scooted back to fit his head under the metal bunker bed, "that makes it sound like slavery. I mean, they do run a small electric current through it when you wander off without being paid for, but it's not much."

Sasuke's eyes had naturally followed the boy he'd been glaring at for ignoring him, even when Naruto had walked past him. But when the other shimmied to reach what Sasuke guessed was the collar, he averted his eyes from staring as Naruto's pants slowly rolled lower, snagged by the edge of the bed.

_Oh, god dammit._

He could practically see an approval sign stamped on Kakashi's forehead. He should have acted like he hadn't been looking at Naruto. At all. Because the moment his eyes swiveled away from Naruto and towards the door, towards Kakashi, he could see how pleased the pervert was.

_Shit._

"Aha, found it!" The blond exclaimed behind Sasuke, followed by a clunk as metal met head and a foreign curse he didn't understand. Sasuke wasn't willing to turn back while Kakashi glowed like the pervert he was despite the full out glare directed at him. "But yeah, they're not really that harmful. We're told in the system that the shocks are enough to stop heartbeats but that doesn't happen. I'd be dead if it was true. See," the blond held up a metallic hire collar covered in odd graphitti like pictures, "pretty clunky. They didn't waste money designing these. Practical and advanced but pretty ugly. "

Sasuke just wanted to go. He felt really sick and the bright simulated sunlight of the Amano colony wasn't helping at all with his headache. He didn't like the talkative blond and his never ending chattering.

Just as he was about to drag the boy and leave, _the collar's not even on him so it doesn't matter_, his stomach grumbled the loudest protest he'd ever heard.

Head held high, Sasuke began walking towards Kakashi and the door. He didn't want Naruto to see the blush on his face.

"Um… I know a pretty good noodle shop around here. I could take you guys there once you've paid."

* * *

"Little dude's not good with bots, eh? Would have been a…" Sasuke couldn't understand the gibberish coming out of the blond's disgusting trap as it opened and closed to chew food and comment on Kakashi's situation.

The trip to Ichiraku Ramen Shop was all a blur to Sasuke. His mind had stopped following anything after his stomach had made such an embarrassing sound.

It wasn't until Naruto had shoved a bowl of miso ramen under his nose moments ago that he began paying attention to Kakashi and the blond speak.

As his body thanked him for the food, real fulfilling food, Sasuke stared while Naruto wolf down his bowl of ramen. It was both disgusting and interesting to watch the blond's Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed and made a twirling gesture with his hand, "Really, the best investment would have been a bot. Less maintenance, less space, blah blah blah. And, besides," the moron gave him an inappropriate once over, "most of them are as cute as him."

"That's why we hired you," Kakashi tapped the metal table to grab the blond's attention and Sasuke's ire, "We need you to fix the bots that Sasuke broke. Even with you onboard and the bots functioning, I need more people in my crew."

"Why do you need it now? I'd have thought people would storm to be the Great Kakashi's crewmates," the blond sucked on his chopsticks, "And you called bots people…" Sasuke's eyes followed the blond's tongue clean broth from his lips, "That's something I've never heard from generals. You into bots or something?"

"Not really. Easier to think of them as people and the ones we bought were mostly human-like. And I'll explain the reasons once we're on the ship."

The blond looked ecstatic as he started on his third bowl, sucking at his chopsticks every time he brought noodles to his mouth. "Yeah, still not humans though, but it's cool. So at least _you_ respect how much a work of genius bots are. I'd be disappointed if my new masters treated bots like trash. Right, _young master_?"

Sasuke snapped his attention away from Naruto's lips and focused on the blond's laughing eyes, fighting not to blush and flip the idiot and Kakashi the bird.

"Eat, clean yourself and follow me. I'll show you where I left the bots so you could get Kakashi off my back." He glared at Naruto, warning him to shut up, and turned to his own food, "We need that cooking model as soon as possible."

"Why?" Naruto responded, shoveling more food in his mouth, "Anything you guys make is a hundred times better than whatever _gruel_ they fed us at the factory."

Sasuke looked at the blond with distaste, "Then you're an imbecile and tasteless. Kakashi can't cook shit and this taste like crap." He felt a drop of miso ramen hit the side of his face.

Naruto had the balls to look inquisitive, "You've tasted crap before..?"

"Idiot." Sasuke turned away, incidentally staring at Kakashi's pleased grin. Now wrestling with the blush he'd been trying to suppress, he stood up, gathered his mostly full bowl and headed towards the trash receptacles.

"Not cute at all," -_ignore it_-"how come Kakashi gets to see the blush?"

* * *

"See this is your fault this time," Naruto pouted at him as he scrubbed in the tub, washing away the soot that had hidden away most of his features, "Kakashi would have let you go while I ate and cleaned up if you hadn't thrown your bowl at me."

After leading the noodle swamped blond away from the shop, aware of every customer's stare, Sasuke had practically dragged the idiot through the shipyard to Bunta, Kakashi's secondary ship. Without notifying the other shipmates, he'd brought the awestruck, thankfully quiet, blond to the bathroom closest to his and Kakashi's room.

He had only turned away for a minute in order to fix the tub's temperature but when he turned around, Sasuke couldn't stop himself from staring. Though his face and arms had been covered in soot, Naruto's drab clothing had protected the rest of him from the mess.

Hidden under the commoner clothes was a complexion that Sasuke had never seen before.

Bronzed skin. An exotic hue that, along with his brilliant blue eyes and vivid blond hair, made him look alien and…fascinating.

Sasuke had always been surrounded by the paper pallor of the Uchiha clan and the other nobilities. Those people had said the pure paleness of the Uchiha clan exemplified the vision of beauty.

Despite that, Naruto's skin looked beautiful. It reminded him of warmth. Made him wonder if Naruto was as warm as he looked.

"Never heard of a general feeding his team trail mix for one whole week because of bad planning. Didn't think high rankers were so irresponsible, though is it just Kakashi?"

Or not.

"Maybe you could have helped him gather supplies. I'm sure your anal retentiveness could stop him from forgetting to buy enough food supplies this time."

_Ignore it._

"Why'd he hafta go by himself? I could've helped. Bet that it'd be better than listening to nothing. You're making me a little jealous with the way you're staring at the sink like that." Sasuke moved his eyes away from mentioned sink to glare at Naruto, careful to keep his eyes on the other's face.

The blond gave him a lecherous grin, "Not that I'm complaining. It's kinda fun having you here while bathe. We took communal baths in the factory but it's different with just you and me."

Sasuke glared even harder, fighting to keep his fist steady.

"So… Wanna join me?"

_Ignore it!_

"You're no fu –"

* * *

"This is going to be a routine isn't it?" The blond pulled the big black shirt, a gift Sasuke had received from Kakashi, off the coffee table. "Me talking, you giving me the quiet treatment, me talking some more and you hitting me like no tomorrow." The blond grimaced as he poked the new bruise on his right cheek.

"Then stop touching me." Sasuke eyed the ugly mark on the tan boy's right cheek, preventing his eyes from wandering. "I don't know where you hands have been."

"Sheesh, calm down Snow White," Naruto gave him a wink as he pulled his hands through the shirt –_my shirt_– sleeves, "I was just trying to get your attention."

"By grabbing my leg?"

The blond laughed and started buttoning his loaned shirt. "Like hell I grabbed you. I just touched your knee to get your attention and blam, you lay one on me. I could've drowned, what would you have told Kakashi?"

Naruto's laugh brimmed with joy.

"Hn."

"Hey, I'm supposed to be your companion along with being the main mechanic. That's why Kakashi brought you to the factory. Find a person to teach you how to act around your generation and-"

"I don't need it."

"-and all that stuff." Naruto ignored him and continued, "I can't do jack if you don't talk to me. Besides, that was the first time I laid a finger on you." The tanned youth raised his head from buttoning the shirt to look at Sasuke with devious eyes, "You scared of flirting or something?"

Sasuke kept his eyes on Naruto's face, partly because an Uchiha backed away for no one and partly because looking away gave his eyes more chances to look at _something _else. The idiot had chosen to wear the shirt before anything else and Sasuke didn't want to deal with the short –_tan all around _–boy in that state.

"I don't need you," he replied, disregarding the taunt. "I'm fine."

"Really?" The blond looked amused, clearly not caring his about decency as he leisurely buttoned the shirt. "Wouldn't think that with the distance you're putting between us," Naruto gestured at Sasuke's perch on the bed. "And you're all tense with me just dressing in front of you."

Sasuke blushed at the other boy's blunt remark, "Because you're naked. It's… indecent."

"Bullshit. Basic sex-ed is mandatory for kids when they hit twelve. You just had your fifteenth birthday so nothing I'm saying or showing to you is a surprise. And we have the same things." At the mention of _things_, the blond made some sort of gesture with his right pointing finger.

Yes every child was given the "talk" at the age of twelve, another at the age of sixteen, but Sasuke had zoned out the moment Kakashi had brought out a picture of a diseased penis and vagina. Both of which were supposed to be warnings to pay attention and learn. By the time Kakashi had left, too gleeful while he looked at the Icha Icha pages that he'd used as "factual information," Sasuke only had a very vague idea of how sex worked.

Granted most of Sasuke's immediate attention went towards finding some sort of drug,_ any drug_, to erase all the disgusting pictures and diagrams that Kakashi showed him.

Maybe he was traumatized.

"Comfortable doesn't mean you're allowed to be crass."

"If you're used to hanging out with kids your age, you_should_ be able to handle flirting." Naruto left the rest of the shirt unbuttoned and reached for the rest of his loaned clothes.

"It's unnecessary." Sasuke couldn't be intimidated by someone of lower caste.

"Fine."

Sasuke looked away while he waited for Naruto to dress, even if the other had no decency. "Hurry up. My cat moves faster than you."

He heard Naruto snort and resumed _not_ looking at the blond.

"Then _you do _know how to deal with someone like me?" Whispered words brushed his ears as Naruto leaned on his side, knees trapping Sasuke's left thigh, invading his personal space. "See this isn't so bad."

Sasuke could smell his lavender shampoo wafting from the other boy. He should have been angry that Naruto had probably used _way_ too much to smell so much.

He should be pushing the blond away.

But Naruto was right. He didn't understand anything about this _type _of interaction other than seeing Kakashi act just like Naruto when faced with most attractive males, females, and everything in between.

Sasuke bit his bottom lip, not really certain if the surprised look on Naruto's face was good or bad after he hesitantly placed his hand close to Naruto's right thigh.

Just as the blond's expression changed to a warm smile, Sasuke heard the metallic swish of the door opening.

"Excuse me," _Oh god no_, "Sasuke, why must you do this in my room?" Sasuke shoved the blond away from him and turned towards the door.

Already he regretted sitting on the bed. Though Naruto was still in his personal space, Sasuke could see Neji Hyuuga past a tan shoulder, standing proudly in the room's entrance. Left eyebrow raised questioningly. "You may be of higher rank than I, but you must admit, this is a _kink_ that even Kakashi-san wouldn't attempt."

Sasuke blankly stared at the Hyuuga, feeling the mix of mortification and anger.

As one of Kakashi's returning crew mates, the Hyuuga had always rubbed Sasuke the wrong way. The way the older boy walked and talked. So sure that others would listen and follow his orders. Always confident in his Byakugan, the sought after result of generations of DNA manipulation. The creepy eyes that helped create the Uchiha clan's Sharingan.

Just like the Sharingan, the Hyuuga's Byakugan was another product of terrorism. The need for security at the now outdated airports and seaports, when majority of the world's governments failed to protect them militarily, led to the rise of scientists and their clans.

Money flowed to the scientific communities and clans from around the world began developing their own versions of defense. From the fallen country of Japan, the Hyuuga clan was the first to discover an absolute defense in the form of Byakugan.

Also called White Eyes, the Byakugan became a genetically inherited mutation that permanently changed the clan members' pupils and irises to a lavender or blue-gray so light that it bordered white. Along with the physical trait came, as rumored, a 360 degree field of vision. When fully activated, they were also rumored to have x-ray like vision. Both of which were ideal for threat detection.

Although the clan was very careful not to reveal the mutation's secret or let gene carriers marry outsiders, somehow the mutation fell into the hands of another Japanese clan.

Sasuke didn't know exactly how the Uchiha clan created the Sharingan out of the Byakugan. He didn't know whether a Hyuuga married into the family or if his clan had stolen a member of the Hyuuga clan. He didn't really care.

Even if they were some fifth cousin or other, Sasuke found no inclination to interact with the Hyuuga. Normally, the two would take aims in ignoring each other.

When their paths crossed, both would turn their heads the other way. When the whole crew gathered to eat or hold meetings, they'd be a couple of feet, if not across the room, away from each other. Working together meant speaking in short one to three word sentences or, often times, no talking overall.

Perhaps if Kakashi hadn't introduced the Hyuuga as the top student in the edu-flight system, brimming with intelligence, diligence and potential, while Sasuke slowly learned from Kakashi's personal lessons, he'd be a little more civil with the older boy.

But not really. The "perfection" Neji carried himself with grated on Sasuke's nerves way too much.

However, the usually organized Hyuuga was flushed, clothes in disarray. His long, freakishly perfect brunet hair, normally tied and brushed back to submission, spilled past the tie to lie in uneven clumps around his face. The young man's pale face held a pinkish hue and his eyes, the trademark Hyuuga's light lavender, seemed less focused than usual.

"I would like to clean up before Kakashi returns, Sasuke," Neji's eyes refused to budge from Naruto's back, "and please make your _companion_ dress and leave."

Sasuke ignored Neji's suggestive tone, "As of now, this room is Naruto's to use until Kakashi fires him." He felt a stinging pinch on his thigh before Naruto moved away, hopefully to put on some pants away from the Hyuuga's sight. "You need to move your things to another room. I don't care where."

"You shouldn't care. This is _my_ room and I need_ both_ of you to leave."

"Move or I'll torch everything."

"I don't remember Kakashi-san saying anything about this."

"That's because he didn't say anything at all." Sasuke threw a scathing glare at the older teen, whom ignored the look in favor of staring at the idiot trying to shimmy into too tight jeans. "I don't trust this idiot to live far away from Kakashi or my room. He'd probably blow up something one way or another."

He heard Naruto's curse, still unable to put on Sasuke's hand-me-down pants, and the Hyuuga's scoff. "Excuses are unbecoming Sasuke. Until Kakashi-san physically tells me to pack and move to a different room, I'll be staying right here." Declaration done, the Hyuuga sniffed once, loud enough that Sasuke heard Naruto snicker in response, and turned towards his closet, fully intent to ignore both intruders.

Fingers itching to grab and toss a pillow or two, or his shoe, Sasuke rose from the bed, took his eyes off the bastard and looked down to fix his shirt. He hadn't noticed Naruto messing with them.

"Hey, hey. You're a Hyuuga right? Can you do that creepy cool eye thinger? The one that makes your face and eyes all veiny and weird."

Sasuke's eyes darted towards the voice, annoyed that the blond's attention was so short. Spotting the idiot, Sasuke's mouth curled in displeasure.

"C'mon, I just wanna know if you could do it or not." Sasuke saw the blond pout. "I've never met a Hyuuga before. Just say yes, or no…Please?"

Just like with Sasuke, Naruto stood way within Neji's personal space, practically bouncing with curiosity. Even though leaving the Hyuuga with the annoying boy would be a perfect way to torture the ass, the thought irritated Sasuke.

Naruto was, after all, Sasuke's responsibility.

He saw the Hyuuga massage his temple. "Yes. Now will you please leave? And take your resentful boyfriend with you."

Apparently satisfied with Neji's answer, Naruto spun around and broadly smiled –_so happy with such a half assed answer_– as he took Sasuke's arm and dragged him out of the room.

* * *

Sasuke glanced at the whistling idiot as they slowly walked towards his room.

He'd wanted to re-enter the Hyuuga's room to threaten him about being sent to a different ship. Since Kakashi's funds came from Sasuke's inheritance, Sasuke owned the ship and its crew. Neji may be his senior age-wise but Sasuke had the authority in the ship. The Hyuuga's refusal was mutiny.

It was a golden opportunity to get rid of the faultless Hyuuga but one glance at the beaming blond… Smiling without restraint.

Naruto's exuberance was refreshing from Kakashi's perverted babble, Neji's holier-than-thou attitude and the rest of the ship mates' weird antics. It felt…_good_…to have the tanned boy smile at him.

It almost felt like when his mother smiled at him. The one that made his chest hurt and his face warm. The smile she freely gave her family before his brother took it all away.

Usually, thoughts like those would make him irritable and morose but with Naruto obliviously whistling beside him, it just made Sasuke nostalgic. Made him wonder why a complete stranger would make him feel the same way as the woman who'd raised him.

Though it might make Naruto's bright smile disappear, Sasuke led them both towards the bots' he'd destroyed. Stored and hidden in his closet.

* * *

A/N - Three years after I stopped updating this story (haha laptop wiped my hardrive and I didn't know if I had copies of my notes anywhere...) I'm fixing this and continuing, albeit slowly as the muse is just whispering rather than talking. =_=


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Sasuke…your room fits you to a T. Boring black and white color scheme, boring bare walls, boring empty spaces." Sasuke heard the rustle of pages being flipped through, ancient sheets protesting their rough treatment. "Boring ancient books."

Walking towards his closet, gearing up to punch codes into the closet keypad and haul the heavy androids, he didn't really mind the rude comments. He'd seen a look of wonder on Naruto's face when he had ushered them in his room so he knew the other was just being a pain in the ass.

True his room was a study of monochrome, Spartan in design. He had all that he needed in this room: a bed, sheets, pillows, a chair, table, a basic comp system, clothing and shoes. All necessities, nothing extra.

He had made sure that anything and everything he treasured were hidden from everyone but himself. Scattered in many different nooks and crannies of the ship as well as in different storage units throughout the third Hokage's colony.

He'd learned not to keep everything in one place, when Itachi had killed all the people he'd cared for, all gathered within the Uchiha compound like corralled sheep waiting for the slaughter.

Had learned not to put everything in one area, where they could easily be destroyed with a flick of a wrist and a small breath.

The only personal items were his books, though those were mostly for his studies of antiquity. The collection of books crowded one whole wall of Sasuke's room, neatly organized. Despite the room it took to store them, they made up only a small percent of his collection over all. They were relics of the past, mostly history books, made long before his clan had been conceived. Long before nuclear warfare and environmental disasters had ruined the Earth. Generations before paper printing became impossibly expensive and gardening turned into an artwork-hobby exclusively for the rich and noble

Most were already obsolete, with everything instantly available through surfing the nets, but Sasuke's mother had instilled the love for the musty, clunky forms of communication and learning in him when she brought a book or two by his bedside. She enchanted him whenever she read a fable, legend, myth or even small paragraphs of man's achievements way back when life was difficult for completely different reasons. While he no longer had his mother's fantastical children's books, he'd been able to save some of his father's collections, filled with notations and writings.

The three he'd grabbed for his journey with Kakashi held two different writings within it. The ethnocentric _Japan's Race to Create a Perfect World_, optimistic _Robotics and I_, and somewhat absurd and over the top _America: The Rise and Fall of the World's Support Beam_. All of the titles were lame in his opinion but it was his father's comments which made the books precious. Within each book were childish ramblings of an immature fourteen year old and, years later, more critical notes of the Uchiha clan head.

Even though Sasuke had felt the need to rip away the books from grubby, careless hands when he heard turned pages protesting their mistreatment, he chose to watch the blond. Observed the curious gaze and oddly more tender touch the tanned boy graced on one of Sasuke's prized possessions. No doubt tracing the graceful lines Sasuke's father had etched forever on paper with gentle eyes and fingertips, just as Sasuke often did whenever he felt lost.

"Staring at me won't open your closet you know…" Naruto muttered, head still tilted towards the books. Sasuke stared more intently to spite the blond and watched as _that _annoying smile blossomed on an equally annoying face. "That closet at least."

"Fuck you."

The laugh that followed wasn't amusing at all. "Maybe in a couple of years, Sasuke." Blond lockes swished back and forth. "I wanna see the two before my stuff come from the factory."

"Stuff?"

"Yeah man. It's not like I could pull out some random tool out of nowhere." The other boy scoffed and snapped the book he held shut, oblivious to Sasuke's flinch. "I may be awesome, but I'm not magical like that."

"You're adding to your unreasonable price tag." Sasuke frowned.

"Ha ha ha, you get what you paid for," Naruto tsked tsked, "and what you paid for is," Sasuke watched the idiot stand straighter and puff out his chest, "_the best_ of the best. Delivering my tools is standard procedure for all hires, no cost unless I bring some huge ass computer or something very valuable."

"Well I can't open it."

"Why not? You store your shit there don't you?" Sasuke heard the other boy approach, trying to looking over his shoulder. "The security key should work unless you changed it yourself with a master passcode."

"Whoever owned this clunky ship before Kakashi made sure the main closets were as much a pain in the ass as you and Kakashi." Sasuke frowned and stepped away from the keypad, away from the blond's personal space, "Don't treat me like an ignorant child."

"Psh, haven't been treating you like a kid at all. You'd be surprised how many people don't know jack squat how their stuff work." Naruto tried to hold back a smile as he watched the number keys light up.

Sasuke watched intense blue eyes focus at the keypad, hopeless in its mission as numbers blinked randomly. He should tell Naruto that there wasn't any type of pattern with the blinking lights but didn't. Payback was a bitch after all.

"Ha!" The closet door unlocked and noisily slid open. "Nothing gets in the way of the Great Uzumaki." Once again sporting that infuriating smile.

"How did you-"

"Sasuke, _what the hell did you do to them?!_"

"Wha-"

"How could you completely wreck such a high class defender model?! Do you know how much they cost in the market?! How much work went into making these perfect fighters and programming them?!" Naruto's face was an ugly mix of anguish and anger.

"He decided to jump out of a sixth story balcony, I didn't make him," Sasuke stubbornly retorted. "Besides, all you need to do is fix him and everything's fine."

"Bullshit! You must have done something to make him jump out. And not cause he's suicidal either, they aren't like that."

"He wouldn't get away from me."

"So you jumped out of a _sixth story balcony! The hell man!_"

"I wanted to see how far he'd take his duty."

"…You think it's his duty..?" Sasuke saw the blond's face go from infuriated to that disappointed look that made Sasuke uncomfortable. He heard the other boy sigh. "What about this house-sitter model, what did he do to _annoy _you."

"I don't need another person breathing down my neck." Sasuke weakly replied, feeling ashamed.

Naruto didn't respond this time. Instead, the tan boy walked into the closet and began pulling the androids out.

The fighter-defender model came first and, even to Sasuke's eyes, it looked horribly gruesome. He hadn't seen it since Kakashi had dragged the droid into his closet three years ago. Then again, he hadn't cared about much back then, so he hadn't thought about how grisly the result of his actions had been.

All he remembered of that day was hearing a sound like crushing cans coupled with the sound of something soft hitting the ground. He hadn't seen how much the android looked like a fallen corpse, bent and splayed in multiple angles. Hadn't noticed how much its internal components can look so much like human organs, its vein-like wires jutting into the air.

Then came the second droid, the one Sasuke had thrown water at. He'd been pissed at Kakashi for picking up an older junkier model after he'd told the older man why he had destroyed the fighter-defender. The droid's synth-skin had aged to a darker color and, on the bridge of its nose, sat a permanent scar modded into the skin by the previous owner.

When it began doing housework and taking care of him, doing more of the latter than the former, Sasuke had been irate towards the bot. So when the bot had tried to talk to him about his aggression, sitting on the toilet lid as Sasuke bathed, Sasuke had thrown water at his face. He'd only meant to anger or annoy it into leaving the bathroom but, instead, the bot's face had frozen, sparked and began smoking. Not long after it started smoking, the skin around the scar began darkening and the droid began slumping towards the floor.

Sasuke hadn't felt bad for either incident back then but it was uncomforting seeing the genuine sorrow Naruto felt for the two and what he'd done to them. He was about to turn around and leave the room, after all the blond was ignoring him in favor of inspecting the two, but he was stopped with the sound of a very loud sigh.

"You know… you need to learn how to interact with people period." The blond was still not looking at him, observing instead the damage Sasuke had done to the house-keeper. "They may be bots but they still look and act like people, right? Sometimes they have pain receptors like people. And they probably would have left you alone if you gave them a _very good_ reason other than you wanna sulk somewhere."

"…"

"Bah, no wonder Kakashi wanted me out of all the hires available. Even if those freshies weren't as technophilic as me, they would have probably left if they saw this." Naruto sighed again and stared directly into Sasuke's own. "I hope you aren't as cruel in the future Sasuke."

"…I am…sorry." Sasuke averted his eyes, feeling too guilty as he stared at such raw sadness. "I had...many problems."

"Psh, you mean have. You still have problems." Sasuke liked the small deprecating smile on Naruto's lips. "But we'll worry about that later, for now _we_ need to fix these two first. I could probably do Iruka but I'm almost one hundred percent sure that I can't fix Sai."

"Iruka and Sai?"

"Yeah! Iruka is a CH-081521195-I18211101 model and Sai is a RT-0609070820-S0109. The I and the numbers after it spell Iruka and for Sai, the S and the numbers after. I didn't think you guys named them personally so I did." At this, Sasuke was treated to that sun-bright smile. "It's pretty funny that no one notices that each of these models already have a name they recognize. Instead they have to read and follow the instruction manuals to program the name they want to use, which they never do! It's no wonder people don't have a clue how to fix things anymore… they always skip the manuals. Then again, they are pretty boring. Those manuals probably need more colors and picture so people would actually want to read them."

"You really are a geek aren't you?" Sasuke shook his head.

"Aha you can smile!"

"Who wouldn't? You geek out like no tomorrow with broken robots. How are you going to act once Kakashi shows you around Bunta?"

"How else? Look, study, and _drool_. "

Sasuke turned to leave again, feeling lighter than he had since–_talking to mother–_the time he spent with family.

"By the way Sasuke, I think your smiles are _much_ cuter!"

* * *

Perhaps he should have stayed in the room and watched the blond work, Sasuke thought. After all, that is why he'd ordered Neji to vacate his room and move to another. But if he did that, Sasuke was sure the idiot would say or do things that would infuriate him and make him feel… odd. It was for the best that he left to go work on something Kakashi had 'unintentionally' forgotten.

Just as he shook his head again, intent on focusing on something more productive than observing stupidity, Sasuke heard the door a few feet down the hallway slide shut.

"It's good to see you so cheery Uchiha." The prick threw a smirk his way. "I can see why Kakashi-san chose such an exotic boy to be your cohort."

"It's good to see you leave _his _room Hyuuga. My order still stands."

"And I am still waiting for _the captain's_ order. Besides," the asshole's smirk grew, " it seems both of you would be _much_ happier if he stayed in your room."

"I may be younger but I am higher ranked than you," Sasuke chose to ignore the latter sentence, "Therefore my orders are _final_."

"Still so childish, using your rank against anything that displeases you." He heard the Hyuuga snort, elegantly despite how like a commoner the act was.

Sasuke wanted to retort, annoyed that the Hyuuga once again disregarded his authority for being slightly older. But he knew the goading would keep going until Kakashi returned. Instead, he decided to be mature about this situation and walk away.

Someone had to be an adult on the ship and do actual work, like balancing their credits and checking all the new messages that they'd received after docking in Amano.

The Hyuuga may be a genius when it came to being an asshole and slightly useful medic, but he had no initiative – _too 'godly' to try –_ in money management and communications. Sasuke didn't reply to the messages but he, at least, tried to read all the e-mails and texts for Kakashi's sake.

* * *

"Sasuke, where's Naruto?" Kakashi queried as he walked into the office. "I thought you were going to give him a tour of the ship and introduce him to the crew."

He must have gone autopilot as he checked all the financial records their crew had accumulated as they shuttled delegates and important substances between colonies. He hadn't heard Kakashi's office door open or the man walk into the room.

He remembered going into Kakashi's frustratingly unorganized office to work in peace, away from any and all distractions. He remembered debating with himself whether or not to try cleaning the room once again, after cleaning it a week prior to docking. Or just hiding all the indecent books and magazines laying all about. But knowing how embarrassing Kakashi acted when he hid said reading materials, he changed his mind and just swept the mountains of clutter off the gigantic office table, grabbed a console and began working.

"I left him to do his work." Sasuke replied, standing to stretch and relieve some pressure from his back. "I thought it would be more productive if I checked your messages and filed most of our receipts."

"Ah. Well, I've ordered all of our supplies," at this Sasuke held out his hand, requesting the finance filaments most markets gave after purchases, "They should be delivered no later than three hours."

Sasuke scrutinized the foods and drinks list closely. Felt irritated with the addition of more Icha Icha book-chips in the order list.

"And now we should introduce Naruto to everyone before we take off." Once again he felt that disgusting grin on the pervert's face directed his way. "No doubt the others would be happily surprised with our new crewmember."

"Hn."

"Don't worry Sasuke, I'm sure the others will like him too."

Sasuke sniffed in disdain. "As if I'm worried."

Kakashi merely smiled indulgently and turned on the intercom to call everyone to the central command room.

* * *

"…so yeah, I smacked his face good when I opened the door to get my tools. I mean, it was an accident. Hella funny but an accident. Anyways my name is Naruto Uzumaki and I will be your main mechanic from now on."

Sasuke wanted to smack the idiot in the face. Or maybe grab those blinding tresses and bang his head a little against the wall, or the floor, or Kakashi's grating face. _Something_.

Almost all the crew, including Shikamaru, Neji, Chouji, Lee, Tenten, Asuma and Kurenai were either laughing outright or chuckling quietly. Only Shino seemed to be staring at Sasuke, unnervingly so.

The blond had casually walked into the command center, after Kakashi had told him where it was via the intercom, as if he already knew everyone. Even when Kakashi told him what was expected of him as the main mechanic in Bunta, Naruto had happily smiled and nodded, an observation that irked Sasuke a lot.

He'd been mostly quiet when Kakashi had introduced him to the crew five years ago, only uttering his name and what he would be doing on the ship–_things Kakashi is too careless and lazy to do–_and had let the others introduce themselves.

The other boy, however, had started with how he got his license as Technophile and then, oddly enough, began explaining what he'd been doing before the captain and Sasuke had found him. _Especially _how Sasuke had found him.

The blond was very good at making people like him. Period.

"So, does my crew agree with my choice of Master Mechanic?" Sasuke knew the one eyed pervert would disregard what the others said anyways since the blond was proving to be very amusing.

"Sasuke Uchiha, Lieutenant and owner of this company, neutral." Sasuke didn't need to see the face Naruto threw his way.

"Neji Hyuuga, Navigator and medical help. I approve." Saw the blond grin towards the prick.

"I, Shikamaru Nara, Tactician and minor mechanic under Hatake, approve." The dark haired genius replied without hesitation, despite the calculating look Sasuke saw him directing towards Naruto.

"I, Kurenai Yuhi, Medic and Confidant under Kakashi, approve wholeheartedly. You're welcome to my office when you need advice." Sasuke glared at the kiss blown towards the older woman. The buxom brunette smiled warmly towards the blond, red eyes sparkling with the gesture.

"I, Asuma Sarutobi, Master Combat Trainer and Gunner, agree with Kakashi." The excited grin towards the inconsiderate smoker.

"They say food tastes better with more people so I, Chouji Akimichi, Enginemaster under Hatake agree." An enthusiastic nod.

" Master Gunner Tenten under Kakashi-san approves a _fun _playmate." Another kiss aimed at the gunner.

"I, Rock Lee, Combat Trainer under Captain Hatake-san, would love to have more people to train and spar with." A thumbs up to the exercise freak.

"Shino Aburame, Gunner, Arborist and Agriculturalist, approve." And a curious stare at the bug-lover.

"Well, it seems almost all of my small crew approves of you Naruto," Kakashi declared happily, his half moon eyes more than visible for all to see, "and with that, I formally welcome you as our Main Mechanist and Computer Engineer."

"Thank you everyone and I won't let any of you down."

The smile Naruto threw was probably the most stunning thing anyone had seen in a while, if their surprised expressions were anything to go by.

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A/N: I guess I never uploaded this?


End file.
